Door supporting clamp



Jan. 22, 1952 DODSON 2,583,256

DOOR SUPPORTING CLAMP Filed Nov. 29,1949

3nventor JO 5 EP R- DODSON Gttorneg Patented Jan. 22, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR SUPPORTING CLAMP JosephR. Dodson, Mount Oliver, Pa.

Application November 29, 1949, Serial No. 130,009

1 Claim. 1 This invention relates toa door jack and while primarily designed and intended for use in supporting a door in the horizontal edgewise position, it will be obvious that the device may be employed for use in connection with any other type of structures wherein it is found to be applicable.

Important objects and advantages of the invention are toprovide a device of the character described, which may be conveniently employed for supporting a door in the horizontal edgewise position to thereby facilitate the fitting of said door to the door frame-structure and with the embodied hardware, which is simple in its constructi'on and arrangement, durable, compact, and comparatively economical in its manufacture and use.

which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts herein specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but it is to be understood that changes in the form, proportions and details of construction may be resorted to that come within the scope of the claim hereunto appended.

In the drawing wherein like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a door jack, constructed in accordance with the invention, and illustrating its adaptation with a door structure.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the improved door jack.

Figure 3 is a rear end view of the device.

Figures 4, 5, and 6 are, respectively, top plan views of varying modified forms of the door jack embodying the present invention.

The improved door jack is preferably constructed of an integral piece of rigid sheet metal, but it will be apparent that the device may be constructed of any other suitable material without departing from the principle of the invention.

Referring in detail to the drawing the device comprises a pair of similar, vertically extend.- ing side walls respectively indicated at I and 2. The side walls are joined together at their forward ends, as indicated at 3, and are spaced from each other, and converge from their free rear ends to the forward joined ends thereof to combinedly form a horizontally disposed, substantially 'V- shaped structure. The front lower corner of the side walls are recessed to form an opening for the purpose to be described.

Each of the side walls I and 2 is formed with With the foregoing and other objects in view the attaching flange 5, which is disposed horizontally and laterally outward from the lower edge of respective side walls and extends from the opening to the rear end of the side wall.

Each of the attaching flanges 5 is provided with apertures ii for the reception of screws l, by which the device is rigidly secured on the center of a supporting base 8 made of wood. To augment the rigidity of and to reenforce the side walls I and 2, the rear end of each of the latter is provided with an out-turned bracing flange 9, which tapers from the outer edge of the attaching flange 5 to the top edge of the side walls, as clearly illustrated in Figure 3. The lower end of each of the bracing flanges 9 is formed with a forwardly extending, apertured attaching lug 9', which is secured on the associated attaching flange 5 by the screws I.

For best results in the use of the device, the side walls i and 2 should not be less than six inches square to give the said side walls considerable height. The base should preferably be rectangular with a minimum length of twentyfour inches and a width of approximately eighteen inches.

In practice, the device mounted on the supporting base 3 is placed upon a floor or the like. The door 50, shown in dot and dash lines, is positioned horizontally edgewise and a lower corner thereof is forced into wedging engagement between the side walls I and 2, as clearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. Due to the height of the side walls, the door, when so engaged between said side walls, will be rigidly supported and held in the edgewise position, to thereby facilitate required fitting operations on said door to fit the latter to the associated door frame structure. To level the door, during fitting operations, in the edgewise position, a spacing block I I, having a thickness comparable to the thickness of the supporting base, is placed beneath the door at the lower corner remote from the corner of the door engaged in the device between the side walls.

The removal of any shavings, chips, or the like, resulting from the door fitting operation and lodging between the side walls I and 2 forwardly of the engaged end of the door I0, is greatly facilitated by the provision of the opening d at the lower forward corner of the joined side walls.

It will be apparent that, due to the forwardly converging spaced relation of the side walls I and 2 in the manner stated, the device is automatically adaptable, without adjustment, to accommodate and effectively support a door of any conventional thickness in the edgewise position.

While the device is herein described as particularly adapted for use in connection with doors, it will be evident that the device may be used in connection with window sashes, panels, or any other types of fiat structures where it is found to be applicable.

In the embodiment of the invention, shown in Figure 4, the side walls 12 are separate members and have their forward ends joined together by means of a hinge I3. This construction allows the adjustment of the side walls l2 with respect to each other, and further allows the side walls to be folded compactly together when the device is not in use.

The modification of the invention, illustrated in Figure 5, also embodies separate side walls I4 having their forward ends overlapped and secured together by means of a bolt l5. In the disclosure of the invention, shown in Figure 6, the separate side walls I6 have their forward ends joined together by an interfitting engagement of the said ends, in the manner indicated at IT.

The use of the above-mentioned modified forms of the invention is identical to that described relatively to the preferred form disclosed in Figures 1, 2, and 3. While the modifications of the device are less economical in their manufacture, they may be more compactly collapsed to facilitate their storage and the like when not in use.

The present invention provides a most efiicient device of its kind, which may be inexpensively constructed and successfully employed for the purposes and in the manner herein set forth.

What I claim is:

A door jack of the class described comprising the combination of a supporting base, a pair of vertically extending side walls of considerable height and being disposed in spaced relation to each other, said walls having the forward ends thereof joined together and converging from their rearward ends toward their joined forward ends, said joined forward ends of said walls being recessed to form an opening at the forward lower corner of said walls, an apertured horizontally disposed attaching flange projecting laterally outward from the lower edge of each of said walls and extending from said opening to the rearward end of respective walls, an out-turned reenforcing flange formed at the rearward end of each of said walls and extending throughout the height of the latter, an apertured forwardly disposed attaching lug formed at the lower end of each of said reenforcin flanges and seating on respective attaching flanges, and fastening elements extending through said apertured attaching flanges and through said apertured attaching lugs for securing said lugs to respective attaching flanges and for securing the latter to said base.

JOSEPH R. DODSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Ferris Oct. 21, 1930 

